Trade Shows: Top 12 denim trends & brands in Vegas - Sportswear International

Vegas was the place to check out the latest denim trends for s/s 2020 during the recent Project and Liberty Fairs trade shows. Brands offered a fresh perspective for the new season with everything from Hawaiian prints to tie-dye, skinny jeans, sustainable fabrics and workwear. Here is a look at the key trends from the trade show floor.

TIE-DYE - This colorful ode to summer was everywhere from T-shirts to button downs and yes, denim. Designers created everything from bleached tie-dye treatments to colorful ombres and artistic shibori treatments. Some of the best looks were offered by brands such as Levi’s Premium, Crysp Denim and Brooklyn-based Maurice Malone, who collaborated with Arimatsu Shibori-Some to create artful shibori denim designs. 400 years of shibori expertise paired with modern techniques created the colorful shibori treatments on Malone’s denim line which is relaunching in September.

Photo: SI Team

Maurice Malone X Arimatsu Shibori Some

WORKWEAR - Denim heritage was in full effect as workwear-inspired silhouettes and treatments surfaced for s/s 2020. Brands including Graphzero, The People Vs., Raleigh Denim Workshop and Surreal MFG included workwear in their collections. Lee borrowed from its workwear heritage to create updated takes on the classic painter pant and engineer-striped coveralls. The brand’s unionall, inspired from an original 1919 garment, was a show stopping piece. Lee also offered sherpa-lined denim jackets, a dad jean with a relaxed fit as well as skinny jeans, which are also trending heavily for spring.

Photo: SI Team

The People Vs.

BEST DENIM FABRICS - Graphzero, who presented its collection as part of the Project Tokyo X Project activation, was a standout on the show floor. The Kurashiki, Japan-based brand’s artisanal fabrications created a truly beautiful collection of high quality denim and workwear. From overalls to blazers, shorts and blue jeans it was hard to pick a favorite. Some of the best looks incorporated multiple fabrications with an array of textures including herringbone and checkered hickory that showcased the brand’s skill at weaving. Denim is crafted in the brand’s factory and then sold in its flagship store, Heart Made Base, in the Bikan historical district of Kurashiki, the birthplace of Japanese-made denim jeans.

Photo: SI Team

Graphzero

MOST ORIGINAL DENIM - Bonum made a strong case for its innovative designs that gave denim a fresh perspective. The Japanese brand creates its collection by reconstructing denim shirts, jackets and jeans and adding multiple denim fabrics, pockets and even bandanas to give each one an original look. Other cool pieces in the collection included jackets made from patchwork bandanas, sporty reworked T-shirts and beautiful kimonos that were made with artful bleaching and intricate patchwork with an artisanal touch.

Photo: SI Team

Bonum

COLOR CODE - Colorful denim is making its way back for Spring 2020. The palette ranged from soft pastels to earthy mid-tones and bold primary colors. Some of the best looks included Mavi’s selection of colorful chino shorts, Raleigh Denim Workshop’s jeans in umber, eucalyptus and Dutch blue and Leverage’s bright blue trucker jacket and yellow bondage jogger pant.

Photo: SI Team

Mavi

HAWAII FIVE 0 - If you don’t have a Hawaiian shirt in your store for Spring ’20, you’ll be missing one of season’s biggest trends. It was hard to turn a corner and not see a Hawaiian print on display in a booth or on an attendee. Many collections includes denim brands offered everything from Hawaiian print shirts to matching shirt and short sets. Art Meets Chaos and Mavi even added the colorful print to denim jackets and cargo pants. Colorful printed shirts have been trending for the past couple of seasons and they are clearly on track to make a statement for 2020.

Photo: SI Team

Art meets Chaos

BEST NEW MEN’S COLLECTION - Cristiano Ronaldo is a legend on the soccer field and he’s set to make his mark in the fashion world. His new collection CR7 captures the icon’s personal style offering everything from beautifully made shirtings to tie-dye sweaters, leather jackets and some very cool denim. Some of the best denim looks include a dark denim jacket with leather sleeves, a cream denim jacket and matching jeans, a snake print trucker jacket and skinny jeans in both clean and distressed denim.

Photo: SI Team

CR7 Cristiano Ronaldo

BEST NEW DENIM COLLECTION - NYC-based Ovadia & Sons has been creating its collection since 2010, but Spring 2020 marks the brand’s foray into denim. The collection created by twin brothers Ariel and Shimon Ovadia includes street savvy fashion with an ever so cool edge and the denim is no exception. We liked what we saw so far including jeans and distressed denim jackets with neon colors, bleaching, animal prints and painted and stripped treatments.

Photo: SI Team

Ovadia & Sons

MIXED MEDIA - Denim brands were thinking out of the box this season combining a variety of fabrics to create surface interest with DIY appeal. Some of the most interesting looks included Onemade’s tailored blazer that paired plaid suiting with denim, PRPS’ denim jeans that featured army green cargo pockets and Hudson’s jackets that combined camo fabrics with denim and a sportswear touch.

Photo: SI Team

Onemade

WHITE ON WHITE - White may be the break out color for Spring. Several collections featured standout pieces in a white and cream palette. Surreal MFG’s white jumpsuit, CR7 Cristiano Ronaldo’s matching jacket and jeans and Levi’s Made & Crafted white denim jacket decorated with blue denim stripes were some of the best looks on the show floor.

Photo: SI Team

Surreal MFG

SUSTAINABILITY - Denim brands continue to get creative with sustainable products and initiatives. Mavi launched a line of organic cotton denim for Spring and will be introducing recycled paper labels and all vegan leather. Levi’s Wellthread x Outerknown collection features recycled fabrics and cottonized hemp denim and Raleigh Denim Workshop created a selvedge denim jean made out of 30 percent banana stock. Wrangler is offering three pieces from the brand’s Icons collection including a denim jacket, shirt and jeans in its sustainable Indigood fabric. Made with a foam-based dyeing process that uses 99 percent less water than traditional indigo dyeing, Indigood is the brand’s most sustainable denim ever.

Photo: SI Team

Wrangler

SKINNY JEANS - Skinny jeans are trending for spring and the style is huge according to Levi’s, which has strong surf and skate inspiration this season. The skinny is also a key style for CR7 Cristiano Ronaldo, which is offering three skinny fits including a core skinny fit, a slightly more commercial slim-tapered style and an aggressive super skinny fit.